Scarlet Prison

Chapter 20

"My lady," he said, taking my hand and making a show of kissing it when he arrived to pick me up, despite the fact that our only audience member was Dana. I was strangely relieved that he didn't show the same sentiments to Dana, even though my life would have been a lot easier if he had been captivated by her like every other guy that encountered her. She didn't seem to mind, since she only looked up from cleaning to give me an approving smile and mouth the word "wow."

"You look stunning," he said, peeking up at me from under his dark eyelashes. I looked down at my usual corset, leather pants, and combat boots attire. Today my corset was green. Not my favorite.

"Oh cut it out, Dominik," I said, pulling my hand away.

He laughed and raised my chin with his index finger. He leaned forward and gave me a short but surprisingly sweet kiss.

"Um," I said, feeling a little breathless. How could a vampire make me feel that way? But he'd probably had a lot of practice.

"Ready for the movies?" he asked, clearly aware of the effect the kiss had on me.

"Yep," I said. "You okay here?" I asked Dana.

"Um hi? I've been working here for a while. I know how to clean." She was smiling innocently, but we both knew she would probably stop cleaning as soon as nobody was looking.

"I'm heading out Vince!" I shouted in the direction of his office.

"See you on Monday!" he yelled back. Dana was going to handle Saturday by herself again. Part of my job could easily be manned away from the office, so Vince figured he could continue to give me the weekends off. He had given me an electronic datebook that I could keep at home so that I wouldn't have to go into work just to update the reservations.

With all my affairs in order, I bravely stuck my hand into Dominik's, knowing that he would initiate contact if I didn't, and set off for our walk to the theater. The summer air was warm, even this late at night, and humid. A slight breeze lifted my long dark hair and cooled the tacky sides of my neck. I felt oddly at ease, considering that I was walking hand in hand with a vampire. It made me feel a little invincible, actually. Zermia, Tamer of Monsters. I could do anything. The wide eyed stares from the other vampires on the streets fueled my feeling of power. That's right. I'm the girlfriend of the vampire mayor, I wanted to say to them.

Deciding that I was powerful enough to tempt fate, I leaned into Dominik's shoulder and pulled the whole of his arm into my grasp. "What's that?" I asked, looking up at a dome-shaped building made out of glass. Behind the windows was a green world filled with trees, grass, and flowers. A dragonfly flitted passed us, and I felt a moment of embarrassment that Ekai would see us like this. But then my embarrassment melted into anger. What was Ekai doing spying on me?! He knew that I was stuck with a vampire boyfriend. He could at least have the decency to not watch me while I did what I had to.

Dominik hadn't noticed the dragonfly, and his attention was still on the glass dome building. "You don't know?" he asked, surprised, but clearly pleased at my sudden display of affection.

I shook my head, but I was still thinking about the dragonfly. Let him watch! See if I cared. I was Vampire Tamer Zermia, and I could do what I wanted. Besides, everything I did was for Novashi. If Ekai didn't like it, I would find Novashi without his stinking help.

Who was I kidding? I would loathe losing Ekai again.

I realized that Dominik was assessing me with a strange expression, and my attention came back to the conversation. I hoped I hadn't let a stupid question slip. I should have just kept my mouth shut and pretended to know exactly what the giant snow globe was. "Veins live there," he said.